The relationship was first speculated on in media last week, but now Harry has confirmed in a letter from Clarence House

Ms Markle and her family don’t live here, so chances are that the vast majority of reporters and photographers hounding them are from foreign media outlets who will simply ignore his plea to “pause and reflect”.

And as for the racist and sexist abuse doled out by online trolls, one can only sympathise.

It’s despicable but virtually unstoppable on the lawless internet. The best advice would be not to read it.

The letter accused the media of smearing Meghan’s image, and of a wave of abuse and harassment

As to “the smear on the front page of a national newspaper” it reportedly refers to the story run by The Sun and other newspapers that a famous porn website features a compilation of Meghan’s sex scenes from Suits, which may not be up there with the Watergate scandal in terms of journalistic gravity but is at least true.

Tesco, who spotted the suspicious activity and alerted customers by text, says it will pay back every penny that’s been fleeced.

Great, but surely the burning question is this: Just what are banks doing to thwart this modern-day scourge?

Internet and mobile app transactions eclipsed the use of more traditional methods some time ago, but while banks have been quick to capitalise on cost-cutting measures such as closing local branches, they appear far slower in spending the money needed to tighten cyber security.

This weekend saw 20,000 customers of Tesco Bank have their accounts hacked

As it stands, they are being reactive rather than proactive — aided and abetted by the lack of any robust measures that would force them to take greater care in keeping our money safe.

And, as the hacking of Tesco Bank highlights, this affects everyone — not just the mega-rich.

In July, fraudsters hacked into The Bloke’s email account while we were on holiday and sent a transaction request to his bank, asking for three separate payments, totalling £12,500, to be sent to a payee he had never had any dealings with before.

Astonishingly, despite it being bank policy to not accept instructions via email, the employee made the payments without even picking up the phone to conduct the usual security checks.

The Sun columnist says surely banks should be doing more to protect their customers' assets

Undetected thanks to this woeful lapse in security, the criminals then took thousands more from The Bloke’s company accounts — by fraudulently emailing his book-keeper who was authorised to make online payments on his behalf.

The bank immediately refunded the £12,500 but say the loss of the company money is the book-keeper’s fault and not theirs.

The Bloke is arguing that if the bank had done its job and identified the initial scam then the subsequent losses would not have happened.

They are now locked in a legal battle which is why I haven’t named the bank concerned.

But suffice to say, online fraud is now so rife that police chiefs have called for a national awareness campaign on the scale of last century’s clunk-click seat belt initiative.

Chris Greany pledged to ensure industries are taking measures to protect their customers from fraud

Chris Greany, the City of London police’s economic command head, said earlier this year that law enforcers are increasingly tackling the more serious offenders, but “prevention, and helping businesses and individuals protect themselves, is the only long-term way of combating the escalating threat.

“That includes all industries taking proper steps to protect their customers from becoming victims of fraud.”

Quite.

Let’s hope that the Tesco Bank scandal finally makes it happen.

If you have been the victim of an online banking scam, email me at jane.moore@the-sun.co.uk.

Time to button it, Paula

MY initial joy at the appointment of the first ever female MD of John Lewis has been somewhat tempered by the suggestion that Paula Nickolds is planning to scrap the haberdashery department to make way for prosecco bars and bikini waxes.

John Lewis' new MD Paula Nickolds has drastic changes in mind for the stores, including prosecco and waxing bars

For the love of Sylko, what is she thinking?

The proliferation of outlets offering acidic fizz and personal grooming (often at the same time) continues apace on our High Streets, but quality haberdashery stores are an increasingly rare find and, consequently, I’m a regular of John Lewis’s small but perfectly formed department for all things arty and crafty.

Beeb at its best

The Sun columnist says the BBC's new Planet Earth proved TV does not need to be scandalous to draw in the viewers

THE astoundingly gripping Planet Earth ll was the BBC at its best and trounced all opposition in the ratings.

Proof, if needed, that a television programme can be devoid of swearing, gratuitous sex scenes, emotionally incontinent reality TV stars or scantily clad lasses grinding their way through highly suggestive dance routines – and yet still manage to attract an impressive 9.2million viewers.

It gladdens the heart.

Carol's call of the wild

POLICE officers and firefighters are to be given taxpayer-funded classes in how to better understand the plight of female colleagues going through the menopause.

Hmmmm. Well-meaning, I’m sure, but implying that “the change” might somehow affect a woman’s ability to do her job is a route we don’t want to go down.